


The Death's Assistant

by hanaiku



Series: The Death's Assistant The Series [1]
Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Ghosts, Attempt at Humor, Crack, Grim Reapers, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, M/M, lmao i try
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:35:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23432500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hanaiku/pseuds/hanaiku
Summary: "So, you are a grim reaper," Seungkwan started the conversation as calm as possible."People call me Death or Grim Reaper, whatever, but I like to be called Vernon.""It's not like I'll use that a lot," Seungkwan grimaced inwardly as he realized how pitiful his position was. "When will you take me to the after world or hell? I don’t care much whatever it is.""Nah, I am not taking you there," Vernon smiled awkwardly. "Actually, no, I'll have to ask you first.""What are you talking about?""Boo Seungkwan," Vernon took a deep breath and looked at Seungkwan in the eyes. "Will you do me the honor of becoming my assistant?"
Relationships: Boo Seungkwan & Chwe Hansol | Vernon, Boo Seungkwan/Chwe Hansol | Vernon
Series: The Death's Assistant The Series [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1693063
Comments: 14
Kudos: 53





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by reddit prompt about Death having a bodyguard.  
> Thank you lunacchi for helping me out with the story!

"It was not a pure accident," A high school girl seemed to be very excited telling a story to her friends. "They said it was suicide!" She half-whispered, half-shouted.

"Why would he do that?" A shorter girl asked with a hint of pity on her voice.

"He must be really stressed," One of the few boys answered. "Living is hard."

They were all nodding in agreement when Seungkwan walked past them. He passed a lot of people before he was able to stand in the center of the crowd. The road was painted a beautiful shade of red here. The color of blood.

"He is still breathing," A man with weird attires told Seungkwan. Pointing out at the ambulance that was going to leave very soon. "Don’t you want to follow it?"

A police officer walked to Seungkwan direction. She stopped right in front of the pool of blood.

Someone besides her talked softly. "We are still looking for the driver. It seems to be an attempted suicide as well."

Seungkwan left them, not wanting to overhear. The weird man followed him around. Seungkwan didn't mind him. He continued walking around to understand what actually had happened here through another pedestrian.

"I see you are curious," An old woman talked to Seungkwan as he walked past her. Seungkwan stopped and looked at her in the eye, daring her to speak. "I can tell you."

Seungkwan straightened himself. He considered her for a while before he sat down. "Please," He said. The weird man hovering around him.

"You are aware of what's happening?" Seungkwan nodded almost immediately. "Then I'll tell you what you don’t know."

Seungkwan listened carefully.

"The body is still alive," She paused. "But, after the crash, the driver ran away. I think he was really shocked. It's not everyday you have someone jumping in front of your car. Fortunately, someone immediately called an ambulance and the police came really fast too."

"Is that all?" Seungkwan was a bit disappointed that he didn’t gain any new information.

"Yeah," She nodded. She hesitated for a second before continuing, "can I ask you something?"

Seungkwan knew what she was going to ask, he could tell. He still nodded at her. He could hear the weird man snorting behind him.

"I saw that unconscious face, it's you, young man." Seungkwan didn’t budge. She then asked, "why did you do it?"

Seungkwan contemplated for a while. Looking at the ambulance that was bringing his body, the road that was filled with his blood, himself who looked like he didn’t belong in the world, a ghost.

"Living is hard," He quoted the high school boy he met earlier.

"I see," The old lady smiled at him. "I hope you'll find peace. He's waiting for you."

The old lady nodded at the direction of the weird man. Seungkwan grimaced. He didn't think he would feel this uneasy to finally face his end when he decided to jump in front of that car.

"Huh," The weird man mumbled in confusion. Seungkwan found him to be a little bit ridiculous for looking so confused. If Seungkwan's rough guess was right, this man should be the one who knew better than anyone. 

"I think it's time for me to go," Seungkwan said to the weird man. He kept his thought to himself.

"Uh, sure let's walk to that rooftop. I like it there."

Seungkwan didn’t ask why the weird man chose to take longer time by walking. After all, he wasn't going to stay around, several minutes more time in this world wasn't a bad idea. As they finally stood at the rooftop he followed the weird man to sit at the edge. Looking at the scene, Seungkwan felt strange.

"So, you are a grim reaper," Seungkwan started the conversation as calm as possible.

"Humans recognize me very easily, huh?" He sounded too cheerful to be a grim reaper. But his whole aura just screamed darkness. "People call me Death or Grim Reaper, whatever, but I like to be called Vernon."

"It's not like I'll use that a lot," Seungkwan grimaced inwardly as he realized how pitiful his position was. "When will you take me to the after world or hell? I don’t care much whatever it is."

"Nah," Vernon said.

"Nah?"

"I am not taking you there," Vernon smiled awkwardly. "Actually, no, I'll have to ask you first."

"What are you talking about?"

"Boo Seungkwan," Vernon took a deep breath and looked at Seungkwan in the eyes. "Will you do me the honor of becoming my assistant?"

"Are you joking?" Seungkwan couldn't believe his ears. Maybe, all of this was just a fucking long weird dream. A dream where a grim reaper was trying to recruit him as his assistant while looking like he was doing a marriage proposal.

"No, I am serious," Vernon looked like he was in disbelief when in fact it should be Seungkwan who looked more in disbelief. "Look, I am new at this, okay?"

"I still don’t understand anything."

"Okay, that could happen," Seungkwan wanted to say of course it could when a stupid grim reaper never even tried to explain anything.

"So?"

"Huh?" Vernon looked at Seungkwan. Face full of confusion. It changed to a realization after his gears were finally done putting his brain in place. "Oh, right explanation. I don’t know how to make this more understandable. But basically you just need to assist me whenever I send someone to the afterlife. I am a pretty newly recruited grim reaper and we usually recruit assistant at the beginning of our career."

Vernon looked like he accomplished something big. It made Seungkwan uneasy and felt very hard to tell him that he brought more confusion than explanation. Seungkwan decided he just needed to ask bit by bit.

"Why me?"

"That's because of your wish."

"I am sorry but that doesn’t explain anything," Seungkwan sighed.

"But you wished to die and still wanted to live?"

_Oh, it kinda made sense, then._

"Of course it made sense," Seungkwan snapped his head very hard to look at Vernon. "Since by doing this job you'll live in the world without having to be burdened by human's problem. What? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You can hear my thought?"

"Sometimes, when I want to," Vernon said with a proud grin. "It's awesome right? You can do it too if you accept my proposal."

"What? no, I didn’t mean it like that," Seungkwan was baffled. He was going to say it was rude to just read someone's mind but instead felt really dumb.

"Okay, but Seungkwan, I kind of need your immediate answer right now since I have a job waiting really soon." Vernon was tapping his finger, truly looking like he was in a hurry.

"Wait, how long do I have to be your assistant?"

"For the rest of our lives. Any more question? Let’s do it fast."

Seungkwan wanted to react how the fuck he could spend the rest of his life with Vernon when he just died. But he asked the next question instead.

"What's the benefit for me?"

"Uhm," Vernon titled his head a little bit. Seemed to be in a deep thought. "Right, you can escape hell and meet your human friends too!"

"Am I going to hell?" Seungkwan didn’t really like the place, actually.

"I don’t know. But, we are running out of time, can you make your decision faster? We can discuss more later," Vernon really looked impatient. Seungkwan was annoyed but he didn’t want to make it harder for him to do his important mission. Besides, he already made his decision the second Vernon said about meeting his friends.

"Okay then, I'll accept your offer," Seungkwan looked at the way Vernon beamed in happiness. "Now, go, you have to do your job."

"Oh, you come with me too," Vernon still beamed. Seemed like he didn’t realize how surprised Seungkwan was to immediately put into working without any guidance.

"Fine," Seungkwan accepted anyway. "Where are we going?"

"At The City's Park."

"Someone died there?" Seungkwan wondered what happened at the usually very quiet park.

"It's worse," Vernon grabbed Seungkwan's hand. He looked like it was pretty serious when he said, "My favorite cat will die."

Seungkwan considered revoking his words. Maybe, it was going to be hard to live the rest of his life with this Vernon guy. Whatever the rest of his life was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be a very soft and crack story, nothing heavy. Don't worry!  
> Basically every story ends every chapter like the concept of detective conan. This is the beginning.  
> \--------------  
> I did some revision lmao since some paragraph bugged my mind


	2. Chapter 2

"A cat?" Seungkwan deadpanned. He was so fucking dizzy from the sudden teleportation Vernon was putting him through. "I have to bear with these shits because of a cat?"

"Well, this cat is special to me," Vernon didn't seem to be bothered by Seungkwan's anger.

If he could do it, Seungkwan definitely will try to snap Vernon and fight him. But his energy was drained completely out of him. Standing up was hard enough. Maybe it was a wrong decision to accept Vernon's offer?

"Oh," Seungkwan heard Vernon's gasp. He looked at the direction Vernon was standing.

There were dirty foods, old clothes, and a kitten sleeping beside his mom.

"Here you are," Vernon smiled at the kitten.

Seungkwan didn't understand until he saw what was behind it. A clean looking cat, very pretty. Looked very much like the cat mom which was sleeping. "She is dead?" Seungkwan asked to make sure.

"She found peace,"

"Her kid is left alone."

"He'll be fine," Vernon said as he played with a rock near his left foot. Seungkwan didn't understand. He didn't understand a lot of things especially about this Vernon guy.

_Why is he so weird?_

"I am not weird. Don't call me weird just because you can't understand me," Vernon puffed his cheeks. He kicked away the small rock further away from him.

The cat mom suddenly walked to Vernon. She rubbed herself to the grim reaper. They seemed familiar with each other.

"We are. She was the first cat who can see me when she was alive," Vernon squatted down as he patted the cat's head. Seungkwan saw how it purred. Nodding her head to the kitten sleeping with her dead body. 

"She is worried about the small kitten," Seungkwan noted.

"Don't worry," Vernon continued patting the cat's head. His voice sounded way softer. "He is gonna be fine. I'll make sure of it."

Seungkwan watched how the cat was becoming less tense. She finally sat still while facing Vernon. Her head tilted. Seungkwan wanted to ask what was happening, why were they so quiet. But he didn't when he recognized the color of life was draining out of her. She was slowly fading away.

The soul was completely gone as if it was never here in the first place.

"We'll need to meet her soon. But let's wait a little longer," Vernon said as he stood up to look for a proper place to sit. Seungkwan followed after him. Their position letting them watch the sleeping kitten.

"What's your love language?" Seungkwan broke the silence.

Vernon looked at Seungkwan like he was mental. "Seriously, Seungkwan? You are asking this right now?"

"Answer me," Seungkwan calmly replied.

"Quality time?" Vernon paused. "Also, act of service?"

"Well, that's hard," Seungkwan considered them on his head.

"Huh, if mine is physical touch will you hug me or what?"

"I might," Seungkwan said them too seriously that it made Vernon choked himself.

"Well, you exceeded my expectation." Seungkwan could see at the corner of his eye the way Vernon was moving a little bit further away from him. He snorted.

"You are having a hard time, aren't you?" Seungkwan took a deep breath. "I was just trying to help."

Vernon raised his eyebrows. They went silent for a while before Vernon broke it. "Well, thanks."

Seungkwan let silence between them stayed again. They kept themselves busy watching the kitten who was purring beside his mother's body. Seungkwan wondered, what was on Vernon's mind as he was watching this too.

"They are coming," Vernon nodded at a happy family with a daughter walking towards them. "It's time for us to go."

"Who are they?" Seungkwan asked. Confused at the sudden act.

"Life savers," Vernon smiled. He stood and reached for Seungkwan's hand.

Seungkwan let Vernon dragged him further away from the spot. He whipped his head to look at the family before he was too far to look. He could see how the daughter's clumsy steps led her to walk on the small rock. She screamed in pain, but it stopped immediately when she looked at what was in front of her.

"Mom, look, it is a kitten?! Mom, let's save it!" 

Seungkwan knew from the way Vernon smiled and how the hold on his hand tighten that Vernon was feeling the same thing as him.

"We are going to meet the cat mom?"

"Yes," Vernon looked around to make sure they were away from any humans. He grinned at Seungkwan as he was certain they were alone. "We are."

***

Seungkwan hated the dizziness he had to endure the second time they had to teleport. It took him very long waiting for the pain to subside. Vernon was already sitting in the middle of the area when he looked up.

"I am ghost, why do I feel pain?" He mumbled as he walked to Vernon's side.

There were four chair and a table made of wood in front of him. He contemplated on where to sit.

Vernon patted the chair on his side. "Here," He encouraged. "You are still alive in a hospital, Seungkwan. You are not a complete ghost yet."

"Ugh," Seungkwan couldn't really say anything back. He watched his surrounding instead.

The place was really green. It was full of plants and trees, like a mini garden. There were only a small area of concrete in the middle where Vernon and Seungkwan was resting and the steps towards it. Seungkwan would think he was in the middle of pretty forest if not for the carefully designed table and chairs. And the fact that the place was quite small to be a forest.

"Welcome to Area 1998!" Vernon grinned at Seungkwan.

"Cool. What's that?"

"This is the place where we assist the dead," Vernon explained. Then, something snapped inside Seungkwan's head.

_Right, The Cat._

"She is still hiding. She likes to play," Vernon added nonchalantly.

Seungkwan's whole body stiffen as he felt a flush of anger reached his head. "Do you have the habit of hacking someone's mind?"

"You'll be able to do it soon, don't worry," Vernon shrugged. He seemed to not realize Seungkwan's rage.

"I am not interested in doing that," Seungkwan said with a little bit of force. "I think it's rude."

"It helps," Vernon replied back. His face showing a serious expression.

"Why?" Seungkwan asked with a little bit of provoking. "You don’t trust me?"

"Huh, no!" Vernon exclaimed a little bit too loud. "Are we fighting right now? Because I don’t want to fight you."

"Yes, we are fighting because you don’t respect my privacy."

"Oh," Vernon's shoulder slumped down. His lips pouted slightly. "I was only trying to understand you… And I've been told I am irritating sometimes. I just want to make sure you won't feel like that… Ugh, I know it is a lame excuse. I am so sorry, I won’t do it anymore?" 

Now, Seungkwan felt a little bit bad for being angry although it was much needed.

"Good," Seungkwan voiced out. His own face was becoming softer. "For the record I no longer think of you as an annoying person."

Seungkwan could hear Vernon's sigh of relief before Vernon's face very slowly showed a surprised look. "Hey, it means a lot." He maintained a happy face before it changed almost immediately. "Wait, does that mean you thought I was annoying before?"

"No, comment," Seungkwan said as he tried his best to maintain a neutral face.

Vernon giggled uncontrollably. His face was scrunched up in pure happiness. Seungkwan bursted into laughter by watching the grim reaper. There was nothing funny except for each other faces but it somehow felt really fun.

"Meow," The cat's voice suddenly was already near them.

She jumped at the table and placed herself between Seungkwan and Vernon. She was licking Seungkwan's hand when Vernon suddenly said, "She likes you. She has always liked you."

"What do you mean?" Seungkwan patted the cat's head. "We just met."

Vernon smiled in the mysterious way he always did. Seungkwan didn't ask more, he had learned that he would know eventually. 

"It's time," Vernon softly spoke. The cat suddenly stopped for a moment. She then purred and showed her belly while looking at Vernon. "I'll miss you too."

Seungkwan thought Vernon was on the verge of crying. But he held it back pretty well. Even when the cat walked away toward The Stairs that Seungkwan recognized as the path towards the afterlife.

She kept climbing up until the trees covered her entirely.

And then a knock was heard as if it was timed too perfectly. "Hansol." A voice called out.

Vernon looked at Seungkwan as he pointed at himself. "It's me. I'm Hansol," He clarified.

"Hansol, I'm going in," The voice became clearer as the person himself walked inside. More like not a person but another grim reaper. "Hey, you must be Seungkwan, I'm Jisoo."

"Yeah," Seungkwan's gaze turned to Vernon to look for an explanation.

"I am here to inform you that Seungcheol is looking for the both of you," Jisoo plainly told them. "I don’t know what have you done this time. I am tired of all of your shits, Hansol."

"Sorry, Hyung. I'll take care of it."

"That's good." Jisoo replied. Hearing his final tone made Seungkwan thought Jisoo was going to leave immediately. But he remained unmoving in front of the door.

"Is there anything wrong, Hyung?" Vernon asked as he walked to Jisoo.

Jisoo sighed. "This won't be a huge problem, right?" He sounded concerned. "You can tell me if you got any trouble, okay?"

Seungkwan looked at the easy smile Vernon was giving to the older guy. He was trying to be reassuring. Their interaction made Seungkwan wondered if this was somehow a bigger deal than what Vernon was showing him.

_Who was this Seungcheol person, anyway?_

"Hey, don't worry," Vernon tapped Seungkwan's back lightly. It made Jisoo whipped his head to Seungkwan. "You'll be fine."

Seungkwan frowned. "You promised to not read my thoughts."

"I didn't!" Vernon exclaimed. "You just looked like you will be dead soon."

"I am dead in case you didn't remember."

"You are still alive, Seungkwan," Vernon furrowed his eyebrows.

"Hey, what do you mean by that?" In a flash, Jisoo forced Vernon to look at him. "Is this the trouble? About him?"

That made Seungkwan shocked. 

_Am I the trouble?_

"Hyung," Vernon showed his smile again.

Seungkwan could see Vernon shook his head softly as if not wanting Seungkwan to see him doing them. He could see his smile didn't reach his eyes. And most of all, how his smile was too tight to be sincere. 

He didn’t ask for more explanation when Jisoo finally let them go. Nor when Vernon was becoming quieter as they walked at the corridor. Seungkwan knew enough already. He didn't like to dig a hole for himself.

"Come in." 

Seungkwan didn't realize that they were already in front of their destination. He wasn't ready to face this Seungcheol thing.

"Hello, you must be Seungkwan," A young guy appeared behind the door. He sat in the back of the room that looked like a very dark personal office. A completely different look than Vernon's. It gave the person in the middle a scary vibe.

"Hello," Seungkwan bowed slightly to him.

"I am Seungcheol," The young guy showed his gummy smile as he speak.

_Well, that's a surprise. He doesn't look scary._

"I am guessing you already know why we are here?" Seungcheol asked very politely. Seungkwan wasn't sure if it was directed to him or Vernon.

But, Vernon answered him. "Yes."

Seungkwan sighed.

"I don't think Seungkwan knows," Seungcheol looked at Vernon. "He is troubled."

"That's because we met Jisoo hyung."

Seungcheol furrowed his eyebrows. He looked at Seungkwan. "I am sorry, Seungkwan, I can listen to your head too. But, I just want to make it clear that it's not your fault. Oh, even the problem related to you is not even your fault too." 

"Uhm…"

"I'll just explain," Seungcheol said as his hand took out some kind of file. "Your job today involved Boo Seungkwan and a stray cat. Am I correct?"

"Yes," Vernon sighed.

"Very easy considering the others have much more job than you," Seungcheol put down his file. "But, you still managed to fuck it up."

"But nothing goes wrong?" Seungkwan asked out of curiosity. He kind of regret asking when he saw how Vernon looked at him with a sad eyes and slight disappointment.

Seungcheol showed no expression when he changed his focus to Seungkwan. "The problem is the kitten you saw beside the dead cat was supposed to die several days later on the road. That family at the park aren't supposed to take care of it. And now I see a bunch of paperwork telling me he got to live another ten years and will have a lot of kittens on his own in the future."

"I know you always say 'I have my reason, Hyung.' to me whenever we talked about this kind of mistake, Vernon. But, how many times do I have to tell you that we can’t meddle on their lives? It simply are not supposed to happen."

"I am sorry, Hyung," For the first time to Seungkwan, Vernon looked very timid.

"You should be grateful that it was just a kitten. The punishment won't be very hard for you," Seungcheol sounded very concerned. "I've told you this several times but I'll tell you more if I have to. Just do your job and don't meddle with the living. We are death, Vernon. If we meddle with lives, everything can take a turn for the worst."

"Yes, Hyung. I understand."

"You keep saying that but you never change," Seungcheol mumbled under his breath. He pick up another file that had a picture of a very familiar looking face.

 _Oh, it's me._

"Yes, it's you," Seungcheol casually said. He immediately looked up, face showed a hint of regret as he saw Seungkwan grimaced. "Oh, sorry, I'll try to not read your mind."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," Seungcheol responded. He looked pretty serious as he read over Seungkwan's file. "Name, Boo Seungkwan. Date of birth, January 16, 1998."

Seungkwan felt weird to be hearing his profile spoken by the older grim reaper. It was like a death sentence.

"Close friends are Lee Seokmin and Kwon Soonyoung. Family," Seungcheol paused to look up. Seungkwan just smiled. "None. Time of death, March 30, 2020, 8 a.m… Correction: Time of death is unknown." 

"March 30," Seungkwan mumbled. "It's today."

"Yes, you are not supposed to survive the crash this morning," Seungcheol answered the unspoken question.

"But, I did."

"But, you did," Seungcheol repeated carefully.

"Why?"

"I am afraid I can't answer your question. This is something beyond me," Seungcheol glanced at file for a moment as if he was looking for something. He emitted a deep breath. "This is no one's fault. Vernon certainly had nothing do with this, I am sure he was just as shocked when he knew the situation."

"Then, what should I do?" Seungkwan asked, uncertain.

"Stay with Vernon," Seungcheol stated loud and clear as if he was waiting for that question to be asked. "Your soul is supposed to be with your body if you are still alive in whatever condition, after you died, the soul must be sent immediately to the afterlife. But, now you're here, Seungkwan. And here, we call your kind as Wandering Soul."

"The Wandering Souls mostly are dangerous. They lost their purpose and they are lonely. Soon, they'll go rampant, torturing the living-"

"Isn't that the concept of ghost?" Seungkwan titled his head. 

"Yes, humans call them that," Seungcheol suddenly straightened his sitting position. He put his hand on his chin. "You don't seem to be bothered at all, Seungkwan. Are you not afraid?"

"Should I?"

Seungkwan could feel the gaze Vernon was sending him from his side. "Well, honestly I thought you would be panicking considering the way you looked like you'll die when we were with Jisoo-hyung."

"That's because I thought I ruined your career, Vernon. I mean, nothing's so bad with being a ghost."

"Wandering Soul are dangerous, Seungkwan," Vernon sounded distressed.

"Well, the only one who have to bear with it is me."

"Seungkwan," Seungcheol's voice was demanding. The two boys looked at Seungcheol in an instant. "You are right. Actually, I am glad you are not over worried about this. Wandering soul are dangerous like what Vernon said before, but we can try to draw out the process longer. You'll be fine and you won't lost your mind at all as long as we are not letting you be a Wandering Soul for too long."

"Is that why you just let me make a rash decision by recruiting him as my assistant? To draw out the process?" Vernon asked with a hint irritation on his tone.

"Maybe," Seungcheol answered halfheartedly. "Giving him a job will let him have a sense of purpose and a friend. While we are figuring out what to do with him."

"What are the choices?" Seungkwan uttered quietly.

"Excuse me?"

"I can't be a ghost for too long, right? I should be something else after a while."

"Oh, that," Seungcheol smiled professionally. "We have to send you back to your body or you have to die." 

"What, Hyung?" Vernon stood up from his seat. Seungkwan didn't understand what was he so mad about.

"What do you mean by sending me back?"

"Actually that's depend on you. The only thing we have to do is to link you soul and your body together. Which we already did as soon as the incident happened. But the decision to be alive in a human body is all yours."

"How do I do that?"

"It's different each soul, you'll find out by yourself. I can't tell you anything more," Seungcheol answered with uncertainty. "But, there is one thing you should know. You must be willing to live again."

"Ugh," Seungkwan frowned. "You do realize I attempted suicide, right?"

"Yes, which is why it makes things a little bit complicated."

"What about the dying part?" Seungkwan sounded a little bit too interested but he didn't give a fuck by now. "What can we do to achieve that?"

"Sadly, there's nothing we can do about it. All we can do is to wait for the date to appear."

Seungkwan knew by now that Seungcheol was just as confused as he was. He then excused himself politely while grabbing Vernon who was still standing like a dumb doll. The whole time they were walking back to Area 1998, Vernon was talking and fuming with anger.

Mostly he felt betrayed that he knew nothing about this and because he wanted Seungkwan to be his assistant for a long time already. Seungkwan thought Vernon didn’t mean to let the information out by the way he acted a little bit weird. But he was actually thankful to hear them out loud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope it wasn't confusing hahha.  
> I am actually a more descriptive writer normally. Very recently i tried out a new style. Bababam, here I am now a dialogue-heavy writer. Because of my tendency to write descriptive it's kind of hard to maintain this style but I am trying. This style gives me so much idea to try out things too. It's cool. 
> 
> Don't forget to comment and critique me u,u I really like reading comments. Kudos are appreaciated too! Thank you.
> 
> P.S. I'm an ENFP like Verkwan lmao I'm projecting myself sometimes.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan's first case.

Seungkwan expected their area to be empty when they reached there. So, he could contemplate and think without anyone bothering him. He was so ready to do that only to be let down when he saw a familiar figure sitting in the middle of the room.

He glanced at Vernon. The other boy didn't seem to be surprised.

"Hey," Jisoo greeted while looking tense.

"Everything is fine. Don't worry too much," Vernon said as he sat on his usual seat. His mood seemed to be better.

Jisoo was fidgeting on his seat. It was uncomfortable to watch him and Seungkwan just wanted to be on his own and… he wasn't sure either… maybe mourning his existence. But he wasn't even sad, he was just tired and very confused.

"What?" Seungkwan couldn't really blame himself for sounding so annoyed. "Are you here to tell me about this Wandering Soul too?"

Jisoo's muscle tighten. He snapped his head at Vernon.

"Seungcheol hyung told him," Vernon explained lazily.

"Did he tell you why it happened?"

"No. He doesn't know," Seungkwan answered. Jisoo slumped down on his chair while looking at the trees above him. He looked so troubled that Seungkwan pitied him. Almost forgetting that he was a bit tired himself.

"Can I ask you something?" Jisoo spoke, his head still facing the very uninteresting trees. "Do you perhaps know someone called Lee Seokmin?"

"Ugh," Seungkwan groaned. "Did you read my profile too? Did everyone read my profile, here? Do I have some privacy?"

Jisoo shook his head. "I never read yours, though."

"Then how do you know Seokmin?" Seungkwan didn't really mean to sound nasty.

Jisoo sighed. He stood up while taking his belonging with him. "I am sorry I think we better talk later." Seungkwan didn’t bother to look at him as he walked away and closed the door behind him.

Yet, he felt really unpleasant.

"I acted like a dick, didn’t I?" He asked Vernon who remained unmoving beside him.

"Yes," Vernon nodded. He sounded pretty nonchalant considering he just watched a heated scene. "You sounded really pissed. I understand, though, but it's kind of putting me off balance."

"You don't sound off balance to me," Seungkwan pointed out.

"I think I sound off balance enough," Vernon defended himself. "But, seriously, I thought I was the only one angry when we walked out from Seungcheol's."

"I wasn't angry," Seungkwan didn't understand what he was feeling exactly either but it was clear that feeling angry wasn't one of them. "Just wondering why do I have to be put through all of this even after I died… okay not dead… but similar."

"I wasn't going to judge your choice of word."

Seungkwan narrowed his eyes at Vernon for focusing on the unimportant information.

"Whatever," Seungkwan snorted. "You know maybe I was angry, maybe I wasn't. But, it was still rude of me to snap at him like that."

"It's good that you managed to sort that out. I am not helping you to ask for forgiveness, though."

"What kind of friend are you?"

"A realistic one," Vernon looked so proud of himself as he said it out loud. "I hate fights."

Seungkwan laughed in response. Vernon somehow could make things seem a little bit better that it actually was. He felt relieved, having Vernon around him was like a breath of fresh air. Something he hadn't feel in a long time. He was truly thankful.

"Don't look at me like that," Vernon faked a shy gesture. "It's like you are falling in love with my charm."

"Be careful, I guess," Seungkwan giggled. "Because I really might."

***

Seungkwan entered his room. Surprisingly, Area 1998 had many hidden doors that lead to many interesting spaces. Vernon showed him an old tree in the corner of the room, it looked just like any other normal tree until he saw it lead to his bedroom.

"Cool, right?" Vernon sounded very pleased.

"Yeah, nice." Seungkwan mumbled to himself. "It's awfully similar to human's bedroom, though."

"We were humans once after all." Vernon followed Seungkwan in. He sat on the sofa near the bed and made himself comfortable. "That's the weird things about us though. We like to think we are above humans but we use papers, inks, bed covers, clothes, and other things. Although, many of us do hate the existence of technology and think it's too human-like. Sometimes, I wonder how the system makes us work but I never get any real answer."

Seungkwan looked at the way Vernon seemed to be really invested on what he was talking about. It wasn't nonsense. But it wasn't the things that any other beings would really think and consider daily.

"Okay," Seungkwan was at loss for words. "That's a lot for me to take."

"Right, sorry," Vernon looked down sheepishly.

"I can't believe that's the longest thing you've told me at once," Seungkwan sat down beside Vernon. 

"Is it?" Vernon asked as he laughed awkwardly.

"You seem to be interested in weird things.

Vernon scrunched his nose in distaste, he didn't seem to like hearing what was said. His breath hitched and he was acting irritated. He didn't say anything though, making Seungkwan itchy to ask.

"What is it?" Seungkwan pushed himself to ask.

"It gets tiring to be called weird, you know. I don't think I am weird." Vernon slumped further down on the sofa. He buried himself with pillows as if wanting to hide. Seungkwan didn't comment on it.

He hummed. "You don't want me to say it again?"

Vernon hide himself even further with books. Seungkwan thought it was cute but also annoying because Seungkwan was being serious right now.

"Don't mind me. I was just being over dramatic."

Seungkwan had to look at Vernon for a long moment before he gave up reading his face. He decided to blurt out what he thought, "Come on, I know that's not what you want to say."

Seungkwan grasped Vernon hand to put his book away. He stayed silent, quietly demanding Vernon to talk first. But Vernon must be pretty stubborn if not dense, he just stared back with much more intensity.

"I won't do anything you don't like." Seungkwan finally gave up first. He tried to express his seriousness through his face in case Vernon didn't get the situation.

"I told you I was just being dramatic," Vernon sighed.

"Fine," Seungkwan jumped slightly on the sofa, annoying Vernon because he could. "You weird dumbass!"

Vernon grimaced but said nothing at all.

***

"Wake up," Vernon shook Seungkwan's sleeping body softly. The assistant made a grumbled sound as a response. The wrinkle on his face deepen.

"Five more minutes…" Seungkwan replied, yawning widely.

"Not again." Vernon looked annoyed, he hit Seungkwan's face with a pillow.

Seungkwan swatted the pillow away, his eyes stared at Vernon in disbelief. He closed his mouth when he felt he gaped for too long. "This is the treatment I got after committing suicide and recruited for a horrid work. Don't I deserve a little bit more rest?" 

"We got extra jobs and I need to register you as my assistant officially. We don't have time to sleep more," Vernon kindly explained to the lazy assistant.

"It's annoying that I still feel sleepy even as a grim reaper," Seungkwan muttered under his breath as he rise up.

"It's because you're still human. You are not dead yet." Vernon simply said as he smacked Seungkwan to awareness. "Come on, be faster."

"This is overworking! Overwork! You hear me," Seungkwan shouted as he messily tossed his blanket.

"You'll get used to it in no time." Vernon forced a smile at Seungkwan. He took the blanket and patiently folded them.

"I thought dying will make everything better," Seungkwan started rambling, "but it's nothing different than capitalism. Except we don't even get paid. Seriously, I start to think I'd rather be a Wandering Soul. Why do you even want this awful job? I can't believe humans are so scared of you guys when actually you're just as pathetic—"

"I know, I know," Vernon sighed as he pushed Seungkwan to walk outside.

The taller handed him new clothes that looked brighter than the sun. Seungkwan narrowed his eyes as he stared at Vernon and the clothes. "Do I have to wear this?"

"Yes," Vernon answered shortly.

"Why your clothes are dark and cool but mine looks like a clown?" Seungkwan grabbed the clothes with unneeded force. He unfolded his yellow hoodie as he looked over the fabric. To his surprise it was quite soft.

"Ask that to Seungcheol-hyung!" Vernon said with a slight pout. "Just go and take a bath, seriously." He mumbled, turned on his heel and left Seungkwan alone.

"What was that?" Seungkwan stared at the grim reaper's back. Feeling dumbfounded by himself.

***

Vernon sat on the table in the middle of Area 1998 like a lost child. He comfortably put his legs on the top of the chair. Humming the first song that crossed his mind.

"Are we going to teleport again?" Seungkwan asked as he went out from the bathroom in his new hoodie.

"Of course," Vernon coldly retorted, "you can't go out of this place without teleportation."

Seungkwan stared at Vernon before whispering at himself. "Damn, I really hate being dizzy."

"Deal with it." Vernon blurted out as he lightly jumped from the table.

Seungkwan noticed the set of paper that the other brought on his hand. His feet brought him closer to Vernon, wanting to peek at the file.

"Ah," Vernon unconsciously brought the file closer to himself, as if protecting it from Seungkwan's eyes. He then abruptly pushed the file to Seungkwan after he realized what he was doing. "It's yours. We'll assign you a phone soon. You have to work with this for the time being."

"Okay." Seungkwan took the file, reading over the description of his first victim. "Victim sounded really weird."

"What?" Vernon widen his eyes as he looked at Seungkwan.

"Nothing. It's just—how do you call these people?" Seungkwan pointed at the name on the paper.

"Humans, I guess." Vernon shrugged.

"They'll die, though?"

"Ugh," the grim reaper pondered for a while before looking at Seungkwan to reveal his thought, "Soul? You know there is Wandering Soul, so there's Soul as well. Although, we never really use that word."

"Ah, it's not another fancy word," Seungkwan scratched his head in embarrassment. "I thought it would be."

"Don't be ridiculous," Vernon held out his hand to Seungkwan, giving him a sign to prepare. "Let's just meet this Jeon Wonwoo guy."

***

Seungkwan didn't expect the hospital would be the place that he had to visit today. He should be though, it was obvious considering his job was assisting dead people.

"Which one is Jeon Wonwoo?" He dumbly asked Vernon who was standing beside him.

"Did you even read the file?" Vernon side eyed him judgingly.

"You just gave it to me five minutes ago," Seungkwan argued angrily. He flipped the pages and scanned it as fast as he could.

Vernon looked around, not feeling a little bit guilty. "I have to go somewhere else. Can you take care of it on your own?"

"How could you do that?" Seungkwan closed his files harshly with his hands. The sound didn't echo like how it should be. "I don't even know what to do!"

"You've seen the cat's process. It's not so different," Vernon explained, still in his calm demeanor. He was about to take a step away when he saw how worried Seungkwan was. "Is it impossible to do it alone?"

"It's not like that." Seungkwan bit his lower lip. "I'm nervous. Cats aren't like humans after all."

Vernon cocked his head to the side. His soft locks moving accordingly. For a while he looked adorable to Seungkwan. Even his slightly awkward smile was dazzling.

"Sometimes, you just have to listen," Vernon uttered, his smile not withering away. "They just need to be heard."

Seungkwan nodded as a response, his eyes leaving Vernon's, shifting to the ground. "Okay, I think I can do this."

Five seconds later, Seungkwan no longer saw Vernon. The beautiful man walked outside of the hospital building fast, without a trace. Seungkwan wondered if it would be a normal occurrence but he shook it off as he found where Jeon Wonwoo was sitting.

Seungkwan thought it was scary when he looked at Jeon Wonwoo's Soul for the first time. It lacked the color of life and seemed so dead. Although, it seemed human when he saw the expression on that tired face, it felt alive somehow.

"You can see me?" Wonwoo asked him after he spent several minutes staring deep into his Soul.

"I can," Seungkwan replied, adding a confident smirk.

"Are you new? When did you die?" The older man asked him.

"I'm not dead yet, Ahjussi," Seungkwan faked a pout. He hesitated for a while before explaining himself. "I'm a grim reaper. Although, a little bit different."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm the assistant, Ahjussi," Seungkwan stated, knowing it didn't make sense to normal ghost.

"Assistant?" Wonwoo raised his eyebrows in question but stayed silent before complained. "Don't call me Ahjussi. I'm only forty."

"That's old." Seungkwan pointed out the obvious.

Wonwoo laughed, the wrinkles around his eyes deepen. "I know right?"

"But it's not old enough to just die," Seungkwan continued, fishing for a response.

"Is there even an appropriate age to die?" Wonwoo's smile didn't falter. "There would never be the right time to die because dying is not only hard for the dead but also for the living."

For a split moment, Seungkwan was reminded of the time he jumped in front of a speeding car. Was it the right time to die? How did his friends feel right now?

He shook off the thought as he heard voices came out from the room in front of him. It was Jeon Wonwoo's room, and it was full of people.

"Are they your family?" Seungkwan asked out of curiosity. Maybe if he read his file again he'd find the answer but he couldn't bring himself to show those papers in front of the old man.

"I'm not sure," Wonwoo's lips pressed into a thin line, eye smile not apparent on him anymore.

"If they're your family then it's your family. What are you not sure of?"

Wonwoo sighed, "It's complicated."

"How so?"

That must be a difficult question. It took Wonwoo a really long time before he finally said something again. His shoulder slumped as he show sadness. "What does family mean?"

Seungkwan pondered what the ghost wanted to get from asking such a question. He answered without thinking much about it. "Family are the people who live with you."

Wonwoo smirked. "You know, I have a friend named Yookyung. She has such a handsome husband who lives in Japan. Yookyung wants to live with him but she has to raise her kids in Korea first. Do you think they are not a family? Just because they don’t live together?"

"That's not it—"

"That's exactly what you are saying."

Seungkwan looked at Wonwoo's practiced smile It was so insincere to his eyes.

"Then, what's a family?" He asked.

"I don't know," Wonwoo rested his back on the chair. Leaning as if it was his only place to rest. "I'm still looking for an answer."

Seungkwan grabbed Wonwoo's hand on instinct. It felt rough and surprisingly colder than what he expected. It didn't cross his mind to let go of the hand even when the icy cold surprised him. It made him gripped harder as he felt it was trembling.

"Then," Seungkwan slowly asked, "the people inside are strangers?"

The answer was no, because Wonwoo shook his head.

"They are my family who turned into strangers," Wonwoo's shoulder slumped down as he spoke. Seungkwan just stared at him, looking for more explanation. "I'm divorced. They are my ex-wife's family. We got so close that we still take care of each other even after we parted way."

"If that's the case, don't you think they are still your family?"

"Then why did I file for a divorce? Don't you think it will have no meaning."

"Why?" Seungkwan grabbed Wonwoo's hand when it tried to free itself from him. "Why did you do it? The divorce."

Wonwoo seemed hesitant when he had to answer. His trembling hand became more noticeable and his feet kept tapping the floor. "Because I'm not happy? Because I became a different person?"

"Do you still question the reason?"

"Because there's so much. Maybe it's because she wouldn't do the dishes or because she couldn't fold socks properly. It could be because she didn't care or because she's too dominating. When I see her, I just became angry for so many reasons that it sounds stupid when I say it out loud."

The hand that Seungkwan grabbed now trembled lesser yet became weaker. So, Seungkwan held the hand, protecting him from falling.

"Somehow, the eyes that I used to love so much became the eyes that I hate the most. I got sad and angry watching them."

Seungkwan carefully caressed his the older's hand. "Despite that, you still want to see them?"

"Yes," Wonwoo laughed bitterly after hearing his own answer. "I brought up the divorce first. She was really angry at me for talking about it so easily, but it wasn't easy. Because it wasn't easy, I was still questioning the divorce. Someday, I just woke up, I saw her crying and she said we should file it after all."

"But you were still unsure about it?"

"I wasn't sure if we really should get a divorce but it suddenly happened and we weren't together anymore. I was—I wasn't sure yet."

"But you hate her eyes, don't you?"

Wonwoo exhaled quickly, he seemed not to realize that he no longer needed to breathe. "It still hurts when I see those eyes but it's still something. The days when I was alone feel weird. It was like they just passed without me noticing. At least when I was with her I remembered why I got angry, what did I do for the whole day. There are memories about her—"

"Even though it's not good?" Seungkwan carefully asked. Which was answered by timid nods from Wonwoo. "You still love her."

"Is it love? I'm not really sure," Wonwoo pulled his hand from Seungkwan's grasp. Burying his head on his hands instead. "But she met someone new recently. They somehow look like they are a good match."

"Are you jealous?"

Wonwoo shook his head, his unfocused eyes looking at the door. Perhaps imagining the people inside. "More than anything, I'm just really glad. I know this sounds fake but I'm glad she met a good man. He looks like he would listen to her and help out with the house chore without complaining. That's why I'm grateful. She won't die alone, if she had a nightmare he would be there by her side, and the house won't be dirty. She'll eat three meals a day—I'm just saying that I'm really glad she met him."

"You're still in love with her in the end," Seungkwan conceded. He looked at the door in front of as he pictured the ex-wife sobbing inside. Looking miserable just like the ghost beside him.

***

Vernon strolled inside the hospital, easily finding Seungkwan's spot. Wonwoo no longer around. "How was it?" He asked.

"It was hard," Seungkwan didn't look at Vernon when he answered him. His eyes glued at the door in front of him even though no one was there anymore. "They are still in love but they got divorced. I wonder if it's a good decision or not. You know, he's really angry with her and very unhappy even though he loves her till his last breath."

"Is that so?"

Seungkwan scoffed as he pictured the event that just happened, "He loves her so much that he was waiting until she calmed down before disappearing. It makes him feel at ease to see her being happy, because he loves her so much. But they can't be together… It was just so hard to see."

Vernon released a deep sigh that he didn't realize he was holding. His hand found its way to Seungkwan's black locks, caressing him until he let out his emotions. While Seungkwan cried into his arms, he was reminded of the people he had assisted in the past. Without him knowing, tears flowed and drowned him again.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seungkwan met Jeonghan.

The silence would kill Seungkwan at this point. He knew Vernon wasn't a big talker but this time the grim reaper was quieter than usual. It didn't feel very nice to be trapped in Area 1998 with him. Seungkwan just wanted to go outside.

With his eyes locked on the door, Seungkwan was building the right words to say. Sometimes he glanced at Vernon in case he would catch on and Seungkwan didn't have to explain his urge. Instead, all he could see was a frown that never went away.

"Stop thinking," Seungkwan blurted out without him realizing. He wondered why did he do that.

Vernon merely gave him a deadly glare, his pout becoming more apparent. "I wasn't."

That was a big fat lie but Seungkwan would buy it if it'd free him out of this place. "Sure."

"I really wasn't."

"Yeah, I believe you." Seungkwan smiled at the others, trying his best to look sincere.

Vernon bit his lower lip, contemplating for a while—which was something Seungkwan didn't need. He really didn't care what Vernon was thinking about right now. 

"Okay, I'm sorry—I was thinking about that. I know it's my fault, you can be angry at me." Seungkwan sighed as the grim reaper finally exploded on his own. He couldn't understand what Vernon was talking about. 

Sure, Seungkwan was angry but probably for a whole different reason. He really just wanted to be out of here, why couldn't he understand, Damn.

"Sorry. You can curse at me, I won’t complain," Vernon said. Seungkwan scoffed because Vernon sounded too upset for someone who said that he didn't mind being cursed at. "I shouldn't have let you handle Jeon Wonwoo—don't glare at me, gosh—I know his case is hard for a beginner but I let you do it because I was pissed. I know you hate me—"

"You were pissed!?"

"You didn't know? I thought I was rude," Vernon mumbled softly as he tried to avoid Seungkwan's stare.

"Look, I didn't even know you were angry. In fact, I didn't even know that case was a test to annoy me!"

"Any good grim reaper won't let a beginner have a case where the soul is very unwilling to leave. It isn't that hard to guess—"

Seungkwan deadpanned, "Do I look like I have the experience to judge?" 

Vernon played with his fingers, knowing not to answer the rhetorical question. Seungkwan sighed watching him acting shy. Inwardly he questioned the reason Vernon decided to choose him as his assistant when they had so many differences in personality. 

"Can I go? I want to look around—don't give me that look, I'm not leaving because I'm angry." Seungkwan could see the way Vernon didn't believe him one bit. Man, he was just telling the truth.

"Okay. While you're out why don't you try to register yourself," Vernon suggested. He grabbed something and showed it to Seungkwan. "These are the files that you need to hand over to Jeonghan-hyung—He's the one who manage the hiring—"

"Human resource?" Seungkwan mumbled at himself.

Vernon looked at him, "What?"

"Nothing," Seungkwan shook his head, dodging the question. "You aren't coming with me?"

Vernon eyes darted away, "Nope."

Seungkwan didn't press on it. He nodded in understanding and walked away just like he wished in the first place. Even though it felt a little bit lonely, he kept it to himself. He knew Vernon was giving them space for whatever reason he had in his mind. 

***

Seungkwan accidentally bumped into Jisoo when he was on his way to Jeonghan's area. Actually, more like, he was lost, not knowing where he was and where he was headed to. 

"Why are you alone?" Jisoo asked him after listening to Seungkwan's poor excuse. The new comer might have said something about wanting to look around and totally not being a lost puppy, but Jisoo still offered to guide him to Jeonghan.

"Is that a problem?" Seungkwan asked back, not really in the mood to explain his fight with Vernon.

"Not really," Jisoo laughed. His shoulder hunched, hiding his gleeful expression. "You're a little bit hard to deal with, aren't you?"

"Sorry," with his head down, Seungkwan muttered shyly.

"I just thought Hansol isn't the type to leave you alone like this. He a decent person—I mean grim reaper."

The name caught Seungkwan attention, he whipped his head to look at Jisoo. "Why do you call him Hansol?"

"It's his name," Jisoo shrugged, nonchalant. 

"Nobody else calls him by Hansol. You must be really close…" Seungkwan's thought raced, imagining Vernon being friendly with Jisoo. They reminded him of his old friends, _What are they doing, right now?_

"I guess. Anyway, how was your first job today? I heard you had three cases at once," Jisoo distracted him by smoothly changing the topic. 

"We only have one—Ah," Seungkwan's eyes widen in realization. "I think Vernon took care of the other cases by himself. He's surprisingly really nice."

"He is," Jisoo nodded in agreement. He was sincere and proud as he talked. "It gets him in trouble a lot."

"Like the cat?"

Confused by the question, Jisoo asked back, "The cat?" 

"He saved a kitten that was supposed to die soon."

"That kid." The older smiled softly. "He never learns."

"I wonder," Seungkwan reminisced about the first time they met each other. "Am I alive because of him too? I was supposed to be dead just like the kitten."

Jisoo tapped Seungkwan's back, he looked concerned, "You're different. Fate decided on your future and it must be for a reason."

"Really?" Seungkwan felt that he couldn't believe in those words. He doubted if fate was something he should believe in. "Today I met someone who looked miserable when his soul had to leave. He left his ex-wife that he still loves deeply. I wonder if fate decided on their break-up. Then, why fate let them meet each other at all."

"Personally, I think it's selfish if we blamed everything on fate. There must be a good amount of choices that's made by ourselves, what we are today is a combination of choices and fate," Jisoo gently explained, "think about it, it was him who chose to divorce his ex-wife just as it was him who chose to marry her. Fate just gave them a chance to know each other."

"I'm not sure…" Seungkwan replied half-heartedly. He was still judgmental of the concept of fate itself.

"There was this case that I handled years ago. This man killed a woman, it was a cold-blooded murder. After she died he realized she was his own mother and he repented on it. I believe it wasn't fate that led him to kill, he chose to be a killer by himself even though he denied it."

"Maybe fate just doesn't exist at all," Seungkwan concluded by himself. Knowingly missing the point of Jisoo's explanation. "Maybe everything happened because we chose to be this way. Our lives are the result of these choices, whether it's our own or someone else's. I think I died because my parents chose to leave a kid in an orphanage, because my boss chose to fire someone, because that car driver wanted to drive that day."

Jisoo went silent. He saw the fake smile that Seungkwan forced to show. An awkward laugh that hid so much pain. He sighed, pointing out Seungkwan's paper, where Jeon Wonwoo's profile and his whole life was written, "then, what do you call that files on your hand."

"I don't know…" The words sounded too honest and miserable when Seungkwan said them out loud. "I don't think even Seungcheol know either."

***

"Hi!" A very handsome man gave Seungkwan a big smile, looking excited to see him. He was wearing a thick glasses while sitting like a CEO—totally looking like a scene out of a drama. "You must be Seungkwan. I'm Yoon Jeonghan. Vernon told me you'll come."

Seungkwan puffed his cheeks, slightly bowing to greet the other. He felt awkward after entering this room, thinking he should've let Jisoo accompany him inside. Sadly, his conversation with Jisoo previously was no less awkward either.

"Vernon said I should give you this…" Seungkwan approached the main desk where Jeonghan was working on the documents that were scattered like a mess. He hesitantly handed his papers. 

"Have you fill out everything?" Jeonghan took a once over at the content, finding it was still empty. He gave back the papers to Seungkwan for him to fill them out, giving him a wry smile. "Didn't Vernon ask you to fill them out first?"

"He didn't," Seungkwan replied honestly. He didn't remember Vernon giving him instruction other than just handing them to Jeonghan. Then again, he should've checked the content by himself.

"Don't look so scared," Jeonghan put down his pen, raising his eyebrows at Seungkwan. Seungkwan managed to mumble a quick sorry despite feeling very intimidated. "What are you doing? Hurry and fill out the paper."

Seungkwan took a seat at the sofa that was placed in front of Jeonghan's view. He tried to fill out the question as fast as possible to not piss off the other.

"Hey," Jeonghan casually started talking at Seungkwan while still reviewing some documents. "I heard you took Wonwoo's case today. What do you think about him?"

Seungkwan's pen fell from his grasp, he urgently took it back. "I'm not sure," He answered, his voice latched with doubt. "He looked just like another dying person."

"Nothing special?" Jeonghan's eyes left his paperwork to look at Seungkwan. The newbie didn't even look back, he looked like he was day dreaming instead.

"He looked sorrowful, but isn't it normal? They're dying after all." Seungkwan laughed half-heartedly, forcing himself to continue writing.

"You didn’t look like it." Jeonghan pointed out lazily.

Seungkwan glanced down at the floor, his mouth felt dry all of a sudden. "I wanted to die. It’s different."

"Is it?" Jeonghan asked.

Seungkwan took a sharp breath. He glared at the source of his uneasiness. "What do you want?"

Jeonghan's hand caressed his chin. He appeared to be considering something but a small smirk explained enough that he already made his decision long time ago. "We're thinking of recruiting Wonwoo as a grim reaper."

"Why him out of all people?" Seungkwan found his tone to be higher than usual. "Isn't it enough already? He suffered enough."

"Being a grim reaper is not that bad—"

"Do you think someone who wanted to live would be happy assisting death?" Seungkwan said as he finished his last paper. Signing it with a little bit more force to show his anger.

He wouldn’t call it slamming when he placed his papers a little bit strongly and too close to Jeonghan. He'd rather call it a very needed action to show his dominance. 

"Do you want to protect him? Is that why you were reluctant to give me any information? You don't trust me, do you?" Jeonghan asked with a hint of exhilaration. 

Seungkwan didn't bother to answer him, part of it because he was scared he'd say something unnecessary. He immediately fled from Jeonghan's room without bothering to listen to his explanation about the registration. 

As he walked away, Jeonghan's last question before Seungkwan was out of his range was echoing in his head. "Why do you think Vernon worked for us?"


End file.
